Five years ago, we decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary by taking our children along for an entire week of retreat. We called these trips our Fun Anniversary Trip (FAT)!
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| FAT 2009 - Burney Falls, CA |
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| FAT 2010 - Big Sur, CA |
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| FAT 2011 - Crater Lake, OR |
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| FAT 2012 - Lake Davis, CA |
This year's trip began in Northern California to Southern Idaho, a twelve hour drive with breaks included. We traversed through the States of Nevada and Oregon before arriving at our destination: Boise, Idaho. We lost an hour due to the Mountain Central time zone change around the State of Oregon. Thank God for an added driver. In Nevada, JU got a little needed rest while Miss Mystic took over. She maneuvered us through a rough construction zone stretch where we had to drive on top of the rumble strips. Yikes! We finally arrived in Boise, Idaho, around 10:30 pm, Sunday, 7/28.
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| Neat rock formation along the way. |
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| Lots of canyons. |
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| Only a couple of hours to go... |
Monday, 7/29. JU found out that Cabela's was practically around the corner from the Hampton Inn where he was staying. What fisherman would pass up a chance for a visit? So, a visit to Cabela's was made. Then onto the famous Snake River. First, we viewed the river from an overlook. JU saw some people fishing in the river. Thus, the family managed to find a way down to ground zero to see the river up close and personal. We talked with a family fishing and asked permission to take a picture of their daughter holding the catch. Dropping night crawlers in the river was the trick of the day, except keepers must be 12-inch or bigger.
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| It's a good thing Mrs. M. is the Financial Officer. |
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| Five happy kids. |
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| And a happy couple. |
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| I think there's someone fishing down there... Take a tour. |
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| Darn, JU didn't purchase an Idaho fishing license for the day. |
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| A fish every cast, but 12-inch or bigger are hard to come by. |
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| A clean, maintained park all to ourselves. |
At night time, the children enjoyed a swim in an indoor swimming pool in the hotel.
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| I'm having so much fun. |
Tuesday, 7/30. We enjoyed a trip through the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. This round trip was roughly 350 miles. We saw the area known as the America Alps where famous people such as Ernest Hemingway, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and members of the Kennedy family frequented in the past. During this trip, Miss Z2da3rd earned a new name. We saw a tree on the side of a hill with a steep slope and said that whoever got to the tree first would win $10. No one dared attempt the feat except for Miss Z2da3rd. We woke a sleeping giant! She did it so effortlessly, that we had to give her a new name: Miss Mountain Climber or Miss MC! The view was very breathtaking. What stood out the most was that there were very few tourists, unlike popular places in California.
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| Unfortunately, we didn't see Ash (Pokemon) here :-( |
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| No traffic - love it! |
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| Picnic in the middle of the forest. |
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| Idaho Rainbow trout |
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| At Redfish Lake |
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| Redfish Lake |
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| Beautiful forest surrounding. |
Wednesday, 7/31. We visited Bruneau Dunes State Park, reportedly the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America, 470 feet high above small lakes. Borrowed words from Wikipedia: "The dunes at Bruneau
Dunes State Park are unique in the Western Hemisphere. Other dunes in
the Americas form at the edge of a natural basin. The Bruneau dunes form
near the center. The basin has acted as a natural trap for over 12,000
years." Mrs. Miracles and the Miracles Squad (more on this at the end of the article) gave up after climbing a third of the way to the peak. JU persisted all the way to the top of the dune. Near the top, the slope was roughly 80% and JU had to use his super power to get to the very top! Actually, digging fingers and crawled and struggled to the top :-) The view was fantastic from the top; unfortunately, JU had no camera while at the top. Once again, we practically had the park to ourselves.
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| Featured in Idaho, the Movie DVD. |
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| Checking out the history. |
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| Yeah! We made it to Idaho. |
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| Am I there yet? |
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| On top of the dune. |
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| Another beautiful picnic. |
Thursday, 8/1. Our last sightseeing day in Idaho, we were blessed to visit Niagara Springs State Park, Shoshone Falls, Dierkes Lake, and the City of Twin Falls.
At Niagara Springs, we were surrounded by many springs with water gushing out the sides of the mountain with tremendous fury. It was a very peaceful and awesome place to be. At the bottom of one of the springs was Crystal Lake. The water in Crystal Lake was so clear that we saw fishes at the very bottom; however, they didn't like what we had to offer (power eggs and lures). Should have brought the fishing license for the day before.
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| Thousand springs are located in this area. |
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| Cool flower. |
Shoshone Falls, sometimes called Niagara of the West, boasted a 212 feet drop or 45 feet higher than Niagara Falls. JU was able to capture a beautiful rainbow at the bottom Shoshone Falls. Once again, there were hardly any tourists as compared to popular places in California. Click on the "Shoshone Falls" caption below to see a video clip.
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| Snake River downstream from Shoshone Falls. |
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| Beautiful day. |
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| Having a great time. |
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| Can use this as a post card. |
In the same vicinity, we visited Dierkes Lake. The locals turned this lake into a paradise for families to play, swim, or fish. Many jumped off a cliff into the lake. Miss MC could not pass up the opportunity. She jumped off a 15 - 20 feet cliff into the lake to cool off.
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| Take me to the play grounds, daddy. |
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| Swimming pool by the side of the mountain. |
Finally, the family decided to get some grubs at Wendy's in the nearby City of Twin Falls before heading back to Boise. On the way to the restaurant, the children spotted Sportsman's Warehouse?!? (You know JU has got to make a stop.) Therefore, after dinner, we looked for the Sportsman Warehouse that we passed. When we parked the van in the parking lot, we were in for a fantastic treat! It turned out that at that location was a beautiful bridge connecting the canyons of the Snake River and provided another spectacular view overlooking the Snake River. In addition, people parachuted off the bridge to the bottom of the river! We saw two people did this. It was stupendous. Miss MC and JU were just craving to do the same thing. Maybe next time :-(
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| Habadabada..... Can I go in now? |
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| Getty up. |
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| Faster! |
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| Amazing Civil Engineer work! |
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| People parachuted off this bridge. |
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| Great concept - Shopping mall with a view. |
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| I am Miss MC! |
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| It's a long way down. |
Afterwards we realized that we were short on drinking water. Thus, we went to a nearby Walmart to buy a case of water. One of JU's favorite thing to do at Walmart or any other stores that carry fishing supply was to look over the fishing equipment section. It was a good thing, and JU hit a jack pot! JU grabbed a bunch of fly fishing equipment at 75% reduction from the clearance prices. For example, JU was able to purchase a complete fly fishing package consisting of rod, reel, line, and fly box for roughly $10 EACH!!! Unfortunately, now JU gotta pay for fly fishing lessons :-(
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| Johnny United, the Ultimate Shopper? Nah.... |
Friday, 8/2. The blessings continued. On the way back to California, Scheels was on the way. A quick stop was made to confirm what an excellent deal was made the night before, namely, the fly fishing sets were near A HUNDRED EACH, instead of TEN! Finally, we had dinner at Denny's. The significant was that around many moons ago, JU proposed to Mrs. M. at a Denny's. From that humble beginning, the adventures start....
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| Another fisherman store? |
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| I just like the lights and the fish tank inside Scheels. |
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| Do you have a quarter? |
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| We can't be poor, if we have each other. |
At the conclusion of the ACT 2013 and FAT 2013, we traveled 2,700 miles!!! The Miracle Kids graduated. From this moment on, they are the Miracle Squad!
Thank You Lord for Your many blessings...
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